At my home dojo we have gradings every 4 months or so and we are given the option of taking 2 gradings a year for any grade below 1st kyu.

After 1st kyu you have to wait a year before testing for shodan and ofcourse after shodan there are certain organisational time requirements between gradings.

I am thinking of taking 2 gradings this year, once for 5th kyu and once for 4th and doing the same next year to end up 2nd kyu at the beginning of 2006, this is all still very much "pie in the sky" but how long in general does it take someone in your organisation to move to 1st kyu?

Also, do you have to wait a year between 1st kyu and shodan?

I took my 6th kyu grading after about 8 months of Aikido and I am planning on taking my 5th next month which would be a year after my 6th. Many people have commented that I should take the kyus a bit faster after I tell them I'm still at 6th, if only for the purposes of "leveling the field" and sorting me into the correct bracket at seminars and summer/winter schools where the instructors might not be aware of my skill level. <humble>not that I'm any good yet</humble>